


Garage Rules

by tptigger



Category: Power Rangers R.P.M.
Genre: Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Pre-Series, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-03
Updated: 2015-01-03
Packaged: 2018-03-05 05:19:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3107609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tptigger/pseuds/tptigger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Scott, Summer, and Flynn negotiate being roommates when they first move into the garage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Garage Rules

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Guardian_of_Hope](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guardian_of_Hope/gifts).



> Many thanks to PockySquirrel and Rivulet027 for the betas.

There hadn't been much to the garage at first, just a crude kitchen table, the bathroom, and their bedrooms. Still, Summer was glad to move out of the dorms. The giant bunk rooms were almost tolerable, but showering in a locker room always gave her the willies. No one knew who she was, but as the Ranger Program started to gain traction, that would change, so Colonial Truman moved them into the garage as soon as it was habitable. Then he assigned a couple of privates to move their things while the Rangers were in training. As punishments for getting caught wandering around drunk went, the privates were probably getting off light. Summer was just glad that they didn't have to move their own things, because Dr. K worked them so hard that they all stumbled into the garage exhausted that evening.

Flynn stuck his head in the fridge, sighed, and then leaned his head on the door. "No one else had time to go shopping either?"

Scott shook his head, spilling into a chair opposite Summer. "When would we do that?"

"There isn't someone to do that for us?" Summer rested her arms on the able, using them for a pillow.

Scott rolled his eyes. "No. Come on, we'll go to the mess hall for dinner."

"Will our cards still work?" Flynn asked, straightening up and closing the fridge.

One of the view screens lit and the squiggly lines with "Dr. K" written above them appeared. "Your cards are good until at least the end of the month, Ranger Blue. I don't anticipate the grocery store being able to accommodate Ranger appetites before then."

"The mess hall hasn't, either." Scott shifted, using the table to push himself up.

"You'll need both until the grocery store is fully operational," Dr. K said. "General Truman felt this was the best way to manage rations in the meantime."

"I ran by the farm yesterday, the harvest won't be long. Thank goodness, all the canned food is disgusting!" Flynn wrinkled his nose.

"Get up, Summer." Scott poked her shoulder.

"Do I have to?" Her voice was muffled by her arms.

Scott ducked his head. "Do you want dinner?"

"It's not a question of want, Ranger Red; your metabolisms require at least fifty percent more than they did prior to your becoming Rangers," Dr.K said. "It is imperative that all Ranger Operators eat regularly unless battles with Venjix interfere--six smaller meals a day are optimal, and with the threat of Venjix attacks at any time it is imperative that you not skip meals."

"That's a yes," Scott said, tugging on Summer's shoulders.

"Come on, lass, I'll give you a piggy back ride," Flynn teased.

Summer blanched. "I can walk." She got up tentatively.

Scott placed his hands on both of her shoulders. "Come on, let's go."

* * *

"We should probably talk about how we want to handle food," Scott said as Summer and Flynn joined him at a quiet table in the mess hall.

"In the refrigerator if it's perishable and otherwise in the cupboards." Summer poked at the white blob that was probably tofu but was pretending to be turkey.

"Wash cutting boards after cutting meat?" Flynn stabbed a syrupy peach with his fork. "I hope you don't think these things are optional, or we'll all be getting food poisoning."

"I meant if we wanted to try to maintain three separate pantries or have communal food." Scott poked experimentally at the syrupy peaches.

"Can you imagine three of us trying to cook in that kitchen at once?" Flynn asked.

"I don't know how." Summer stared at her plate, pushing food around absently.

"I can boil water and make basic things from a recipe, but that's about it." Scott scooped up the peaches, hoping his admission would make Summer a little more comfortable about not knowing how to cook..

Flynn stared at them. "How do you survive?"

"I never cooked for the family." Summer shrugged.

"I can follow a recipe," Scott said.

Flynn shook his head. "I'm going to teach you. In the meantime, I hate doing dishes."

"Sounds fair." Summer brightened.

Scott wondered just how sheltered a life she'd led, before. Then realized it didn't matter. Now she was a Ranger and learning to do things for herself. How could he ask for more?

* * *

As it turned out, a lot. He staggered out of bed at 3 AM a few days later to hear mechanical whirring. He dashed down the stairs, fists held at chest level, his right hand in front.

Summer stood at the counter and fell into a defensive stance at the sight of him. "Scott, what's wrong?"

He blinked, the noise had stopped. Then his eyes fell on partially pureed watermelon and strawberries in the blender. "The blender." He started to laugh. "I thought it was a Venjix attack."

Summer laughed nervously.

"You're making a smoothie at 3 AM?"

Summer shifted from foot to foot. "I was thirsty. Was I not supposed to be out here?"

"Nothing wrong with raiding the kitchen, but maybe choose something that doesn't require so much noise next time."

Summer blushed. "Sorry I woke you, I didn't think..."

"Yeah, you should start doing that." Scott rubbed the bridge of his nose.

* * *

"Some boys kiss me, some boys hug me."

Flynn rolled over, pulling the pillow over his head.

"I think they're OK."

"Summer," Flynn murmured, chucking a pillow at the wall.

"If they don't give me proper credit, I just walk away."

"Shut up," he said, louder.

"'Cause we are liv-ing in a material world."

Flynn buried his head under his other pillow.

"And I am a material girl."

He grumbled, realizing that Summer wasn't going to stop and he wasn't going to get back to sleep anytime soon. Flynn staggered out of bed and into the kitchen.

He looked through their cupboards, and settled on a pack of instant oatmeal.

He grabbed the kettle, and turned on the water, waiting for it to cool.

A scream emitted from upstairs.

Flynn charged up the steps. "Summer?"

"The water's too hot and there's shampoo in my hair."

Scott came up the stairs. "Flynn had the water on. It should be OK now."

Flynn blinked at him. "The water in the kitchen?"

"The plumbing system in this place is old enough that they're all connected. I think they were in such a rush to get us out of the dorms before people started recognizing us that they just made the place habitable. Don't turn the water on when people are in the shower. I'd say don't flush the toilet either, but we only have the one."

"That's going to be so fun if there end up being six of us," Flynn said.

"I have only made three Ranger Series suits so far, with a fourth in development," Doctor K said through the screen.

"Don't you pay attention to Ranger teams?" Flynn asked. "There's almost always six."

Doctor K's squiggles vibrated without sound coming out for a moment. "Three of you is enough of a handful, I'm reluctant to double that number. The fourth suit is for emergencies or if Venjix's forces get stronger.

"If you say so, Dr. K." Flynn rolled his eyes at Scott.

Scott just shrugged.

* * *

"Augh!" Flynn shouted, running out of the bathroom. 

"What?" Scott leapt off of the couch, arms in front of him, feet wide.

"What's wrong?" Summer asked, she had done likewise, but the effect was ruined by the book in her hands.

"Summer get your girl things off of the bathroom floor!" Flynn shouted.

Scott rolled his eyes, his head and shoulders coming with it. Really, that was worth shouting the walls down?

"My girl things?" Summer asked, advancing on Flynn, fists still raised.

Scott strode over to Summer, grabbing her arm. "Save the hitting for the Grinders. Flynn, try that like an adult, will you?"

"Wasn't I?"

"What's on the floor?" Scott asked.

"Her..." Flynn held his hands out in front of his chest, cupping them.

Summer took another step forward.

"Is it so hard to say, 'Summer, please pick your clothes up off of the floor?'" Scott asked.

"Well..."

Scott glared.

"But..."

Summer crossed her arms. "He's being an ass."

"He's being a five year old," Scott said, "and you're stooping to his level. I'm a Red Ranger not a kindergarten teacher."

"We're not kindergarteners." Flynn crossed his arms and frowned.

"Then act like it!" Scott shouted.

"Summer, can you please get your clothes off of the floor?" Flynn scrubbed a hand over his face, his cheeks acquiring a hint of pink.

"Sorry, I forgot about that." Summer scuffed her feet, then turned to head towards the bathroom.

"See was that so hard?" Scott asked.

A klaxon blared.

"Hope you saved some of that rage for the grinders." Scott beckoned for them to follow as he raced out of the garage.

* * *

They walked in an hour later, beat.

"We have got to get some wheels." Scott spilled onto the sofa, resting his head on the armrest.

"Dibs on the shower." Flynn ran into the bathroom. He came back out a second later. "Summer, can you please get your dirty clothes out first?"

"You can pick them up you know." Summer walked past him. "They don't have cooties."

"You should pick them up yourself."

"Just for that." Summer shut the door and locked it.

"Summer!" Flynn pounded on the door. He slumped in front of it, looking at Scott helplessly.

"I'm staying out of it," Scott murmured into his folded arms.

"Running the hot water in the kitchen would be immature right?"

"Yes." Scott got up, climbing the stairs. "Yes it would."

"How do you roll with this so well?"

Scott shrugged. "I lived off base with my brother for years."

"I was an only child." Flynn folded his arms on his knees.

"Summer too, I'll bet." Scott sat next to Flynn. "You two will get the hang of it."

"You think so?"

"Assuming you don't kill each other in a fit of immature rage first." Scott clapped Flynn on the shoulder.

"Thanks," Flynn said sarcastically.

* * *

"He said what?" Summer asked, brushing out her dry hair.

"That we'd get the hang of this if we didn't kill each other in a fit of immature rage first." Flynn said.

"Are we going to stand for that?" Summer grinned ferally.

"What do you have in mind?" Flynn asked.

"We could try to get his goat." Summer grinned. "Everything rolls off of him, something has to drive him crazy."

Flynn snapped his fingers. "His juice."

"That pineapple papaya stuff that costs a ridiculous amount of ration points?" Summer asked.

"Yeah."

"That he told us not to mess with, then wrote his name on each individual can in giant letters?"

"Yeah."

Summer stared incredulously. "You're not suggesting we drink it?"

"No," Flynn said, "but it's all in cans and takes up a ridiculous amount of space in the fridge. When was the last time you found stuff inside of the fridge in under a minute?"

"Never." Summer looked Flynn up and down, sizing him up.

Flynn grinned at her. "Maybe we should rearrange the fridge. I'm pretty sure those cans only need to be refrigerated when they're opened. There's plenty of room in the kitchen cabinets."

"Also your smoothie from last week is going to start growing mold any minute," Summer said.

Flynn blushed. "Oops. It's definitely time to clean out the fridge."

Summer grinned at him.

Flynn yawned. "He has a meeting with the commander right after training tomorrow. How about then?"

"It's a date." Summer blushed. "Well, a plan, not a..."

Flynn chucked a pillow at her. "I knew what you meant."

* * *

Scott got back from his debrief the next day and headed straight for the fridge, sticking his head inside. "Hey, no smell, and you can find things!"

"Summer pointed out my smoothie was going off, and I pointed out her pudding cups were taking up too much space, so we decided to clean it out."

"Nice work, guys." Scott snagged a can of juice. "Wait, there were four more of these in here. Where'd they go?"

"Where'd what go?" Summer asked absently, turning a page of her book.

Scott loomed over her. "The rest of my juice cans. There was a whole pack on the shelf, now there's only this one can on the door." He gestured with the can in his hand.

"We moved things around." Summer shifted her book so she could cross her legs. "There was a dearth of shelf space."

"Do you know how many ration points these use?"

"A lot," Summer replied. 

"And you didn't think I'd miss the others? That's pretty rude."

"Taking up almost a whole shelf of the fridge when they only need to be refrigerated after opening is pretty rude," Summer threw back.

"What did you do with them?" Scott's voice was low.

"Put the others in the cupboard." Flynn leaned on the back of the couch behind Summer. "Did you really think we'd do something horrible to them? With your name on every single can? After telling us not to touch them?"

"We might have unexpected guests." Scott shrugged. "Marcus's buddies used to get into my chocolate stashes all the time, so I'm a little paranoid."

"A little?" Summer asked.

"OK a lot. You guys could've asked why."

"You could've asked us instead of freaking out when we moved them too," Flynn pointed out.

"Good point." Scott looked down, abashed. "Which cupboard are they in? I want to put another one in the fridge so it's cold when I want it."

"We'll tell you on one condition," Summer said.

"What?"

"Promise to stop calling us immature when we're just new at this."

Scott snorted. "You're right, Summer. I'm sorry. I'll try to be a little more patient with you if you try to be a little more patient with each other. It's not fun breaking up your fights."

"Deal." Flynn held out his hand, palm down.

"I'm in." Summer put her hand on top of Flynn's.

Scott put his hand on the top of the pile. "Deal."

"Come on, man, grab the stepladder, I'll show you where we put your juice." Flynn clapped Scott on the shoulder.

"Stepladder?"

"We thought you'd at least look in the cupboards before yelling at us, so we put them up on the top shelves."

Scott snorted. "This is karma from what I did to Marcus when I was little."

"And now you have to tell us that story after we show you," Flynn said.

"Deal."

The End

**Author's Note:**

> Also thanks to the folks at the first day Nano write in for help brainstorming songs, I wouldn't have come up with "Material Girl" on my own, but it was perfect for Summer. (If you don't know it, it's by Madonna and you should hear it, it's excellent.)


End file.
